County of Hainaut

The County of Hainaut was a historical lordship within the Holy Roman Empire that existed from 900 to 1797. The county was located in the Hainaut region of Belgium and parts of northern France, with Mons serving as its capital, and Valenciennes and Charleroi being other major cities. Hainaut was a gau of Lotharingia, and it was a part of West Francia from 911 to 925 before becoming definitively attached to Germany. During the Middle Ages, Hainaut became culturally and linguistically French, and it was acquired by the Duchy of Burgundy in 1432 and then by the Habsburgs in 1477 with the rest of the Burgundian Netherlands. It was a part of the Spanish Netherlands from 1555 to 1714; in 1659 and 1678, southern Hainaut was acquired by France, and the rest of the county was ceded to France in 1797 under the Treaty of Campo Formio during the French Revolutionary Wars.